By Steve Rhodes

Whoa, whoa, whoa!
“I said the other day, if we want to win 15 in a row, we’d definitely be open to it,” Theo Epstein said of holding on to Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel.
If the Cubs won the next 15, they’d be 49-46. You’d be looking at one of those 83-win seasons Theo hates so much.
Of course, Theo knows this team isn’t capable of winning 15 in a row. And it’s not like an 83-win season thrills us. But it just goes to show how warped this whole thing is.

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Posted on June 30, 2014

By Jim Coffman

Allow me to be one of the many pointing out to baseball that it probably shouldn’t look back at this point because soccer is gaining.
I’m not sure I know anyone who would rather watch a mediocre, routine-yet-endless regular-season major league baseball game instead of a routine, coming-in-comfortably-under-two-hours World Cup soccer game.
Now sure, you can try to argue that the World Cup happens only once every four years, and that if this was baseball’s World Series going up against it in the ratings, it would be different . . . except you would stop arguing that pretty quickly, wouldn’t you? Because what ails major league baseball ails major league post-season baseball even more, i.e., the inability of players and teams to play anything close to crisp, pleasingly paced contests even when they aren’t a slugfest.

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Posted on June 30, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

There’s the popular baseball story about Rickey Henderson, the game’s all-time best leadoff man, being reunited with John Olerud when Henderson joined the 1999 New York Mets. Henderson, who was all about himself, said some pretty goofy things during his 25-year career but none quite as revealing as when he saw Olerud, a fine first baseman and hitter in his own right, wearing a batting helmet in the field.
Rickey asked Olerud about the helmet, and his teammate disclosed that he needed the protection because of a childhood aneurysm. “I knew a guy when I was with Toronto who did the same thing,” Rickey allegedly said.
“That was me, Rickey,” said Olerud. “That was me.”
The story’s validity has since been challenged, but the veracity is not as important as what it represents. Henderson was famous for a number of skills in his Hall of Fame career – he scored more runs and stole more bases than anyone in history – but no one ever accused him of being “good in the clubhouse.”

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Posted on June 29, 2014

By Steve Rhodes and Jim Coffman

The U.S. backs into the next round by losing just one of three, unlike a bunch of other teams going home. Plus: The Bulls’ Puzzling Draft Day & This Week In The Sky.

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Posted on June 27, 2014

By Major League Soccer

The USMNT finish Group G against European powerhouse Germany. What lineup do Jesse Marsch and Matt Doyle expect? How will Jurgen Klinsmann change his tactics? And who do the experts pick to advance?

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Posted on June 26, 2014

By Dan O’Shea

This year was supposed to be the Year of the Speedster, otherwise known as Reds rookie outfielder Billy Hamilton, whose minor league stolen base numbers were so alarming that some fantasy experts had him ranked inside the overall top 50 players.
So, how is Hamilton faring?

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Posted on June 24, 2014

By Jim Coffman

The US Soccer mindset coming into this World Cup was to play for the future. At this point it couldn’t be clearer that they need to play for right now.
After defeating Ghana and tying Portugal 2-2 yesterday, the US needs a win or a draw versus Germany to automatically go through to the elimination round. Or they could lose and still go through as long as Portugal or Ghana don’t beat the other AND make up an overall goal-differential deficit to the US on Thursday.

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Posted on June 23, 2014

By Roger Wallenstein

My friend Patrick dropped by Friday evening, enticed more by the chops sizzling on the barbecue than the prospect of watching the Sox drop the second of four straight losses to the Twins over the weekend.
Settling in front of the tube, he asked me whether I watch the whole game. “Well, yeah,” I uttered. “Of course I do,” thinking, “Don’t most people?”
My pal is also a Sox fan, but the color of his team is red, not white. So I couldn’t fault him for being more enthused about the meat on his plate rather than the chances of Hector Noesi holding the Twins in check. But still.
Patrick was long gone when the Sox tied the game with two runs in the top of the ninth only to see former South Sider Eduardo Escobar slide across the plate in the bottom of the inning as a potential win evaporated, giving the Twins the 5-4 edge. In the four games, Minnesota outscored our guys by a measly five runs.

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Posted on June 23, 2014

By Steve Rhodes and Jim Coffman

In this edition: What About The Bulls? Our Hero: Jeff Samardiza. This Week In The Sky. U.S. Soccer Has Already Exceeded Expectations. And more!

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Posted on June 20, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

Just like the Cubs’ major league team, The Cub Factor has been on a bit of a hiatus the last couple of weeks. Unlike the Cubs’ major league team, we’re back. The Cubs, on the other hand, won’t return until 2018 at best.
The Week In Review: The Cubs lost three of four in Pittsburgh, won two of three in Philadelphia and opened a three-game set in Miami on Monday night with a win. Winning, of course, is counter to the plan, which is to change the Cubs culture of losing.

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Posted on June 17, 2014